By Serendipity7
Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter took me so long to write. As most of you know, I had a severe case of writer's block. And I mean severe! I didn't even feel like writing and a few times I even thought about giving up writing for good...as in getting rid of my account at fanfiction!!! But don't worry, I realized that writing is part of who I am. It made me feel better and it also helped me improve with my grammar and vocabulary. I don't think that I'd ever be able to fully give it up because it just makes me so damn happy. Now, on with the story.
Disclaimer: You guys know the whole drill by now. I don't own ...Hot Topic...the song Lady Marmalade
Halloween
°°°Hermione°°°
Beep.
'Oh no!' I thought to myself as I heard the first bell ring. It was Friday and I had come to history a half an hour early to take my test. Most of the class came early actually. You need to if you actually want to finish the test. So there I was working frantically to get done and the first bell rang, signaling that I only had fifty more minutes for 150 questions.
Beep.
The late bell rang which made me work even faster because it seemed like only a minute had passed since the first bell instead of the usual five.
"Well that's odd," Mr. Binns announced from his desk. Looking up out of curiosity, I saw him looking at the clock. Following his gaze I saw that it was only quarter to eight and the first bell wasn't supposed to ring until five to eight. I barely had time to breathe in a breath of relief when the three tones signaling an announcement on the intercom sounded. It was closely followed by the nasal voice of one of our old secretaries:
"Announcement, the bells are not working properly."
The bell beeped just after the announcement was over. I looked at Ron who was smiling in amusement over the whole thing and I was about to go back to my test when the bells sounded once again.
"Announcement, the bells..." Beep! The bell cut off the secretary before she could finish.
"Announcement," Beep! It happened a second time and some kids (Ron included) had started laughing.
The bell beeped several more times before Principal Dumbledore got on the intercom and said, "Can everybody HEAR me?" dragging out the word 'hear' in a playful manner. Seamus was laughing so hard that he fell off of his seat. After five more beeps from the bell, the few kids from our class who had not come early walked in looking rather bemused.
"What was that all about?" Pansy asked as she picked up her test and a number two pencil.
"What the bells?" Mr. Binns asked her.
"No, we were all just sitting out in the commons just like we do every morning and this secretary comes in and starts yelling at us to get to class and that we were five minutes late. But none of us heard the bell or any announcements or anything."
"Hmm, odd," commented Mr. Binns and we all fell back into silence and tried to finish our tests with Seamus giggling every now and then.
"Oh just go and ask her already!" George exclaimed out of frustration. We (along with the rest of the class) had arrived at our first hour government class late. This set back confused our old lady sub who was trying to find the day's schedule and having no luck. The rest of us weren't making any attempts to help her and most of us had started long, drawn out conversations. George and I were taking a day off of our pranks since we did so many the day before so our conversation was about the Halloween dance.
We had decided that morning in Old Betsy that we were going to go (mainly to watch after Ginny) and I had spent the rest of the morning debating on whether or not I should ask Angelina to the dance. We had gone to almost every dance together and had hooked up on several occasions but remained just friends for the better part of our high school careers, and now I thought that it was high time to make it official. I just didn't know how.
"Listen, just ask her to the dance like you normally do. You can ask her to be your girlfriend there or something."
"I dunno."
"Just do it!"
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
So I took a deep breath and walked over to where Angelina was sitting...
The new girl, Noelle, is in our English class and sits next to Granger. I may not have gotten a good look at her yesterday but she definitely looks different...better even. I nearly fell out of my seat when she walked into class today wearing a lacy skirt and very fashionable blouse. Her hair appeared to be a darker shade of red and it was straightened and cut into a chin-length bob. There was also the absence of her glasses and I noticed that her eyes were grey like mine are.
She smiled at me before talking in low whispers with Granger. Potter and Weasel III noticed me staring at her so I averted my eyes instead to my test that Mr. Flitwick was just passing back. I noticed that I got an A- on it so I stuffed it away before anyone noticed. Can't let them know that I'm smart now can I?
We started a grammar lesson, which I didn't pay attention to. I found myself looking at Noelle and had to force myself to look away. Finally blessed lunch came. After getting my food, I headed to my normal table by Goyle and them but someone called out my name when I was half way there. I turned around and saw that the voice had come from Noelle. She was walking with Weasel IV and Granger.
"Come and sit with us!" she shouted. Granger and Weasel IV smiled at me and I was shocked. I even got a warm reception when I sat at their table for the second day in a row. Well it was about as warm as expected. Potter gave me a rude glare and I'm sure that Weasel III would have but he was too busy drooling over Granger, and the Weasel twins were arguing over who was going to be what at the Halloween dance.
"I'm going to be a demon!"
"No! I am!"
"I am!"
"No, it was my idea!"
"Well I'm older!"
"By two minutes!"
I drowned them out.
"So what are you going to be, Draco?" Noelle asked me.
"I haven't thought about it yet," I told her.
"I'm going to be a witch," Granger announced.
"Hey, I was going to be a witch!" Weasel IV exclaimed.
"You can be an angel," Granger explained. "It will go good with Harry's knight in shining armor."
I snorted into my goulash. Potter glared at me.
"Hey, Ron!" one of the Weasel twins yelled. "We've decided that all the Weasley men are going to be demons so you have to be one too!"
"Fine," Ron said through a mouthful of food.
"You two get in the van now or else I'm leaving with out you!" dad yelled at Ron and I as he passed the bathroom that we, along with Fred, were currently getting ready in. It was the night of the Halloween dance and as planned all the Weasley men (except dad) were dressed as demons...or something similar to it. We all wore red and black clothes that we bought from Hot Topic (a cool store though we don't buy too much from it normally) and had our red hair spiked so messily that mom cringed when she saw it. Ginny even applied black eye shadow around our eyes to give us a haunted, gaunt look.
Fred, who in my opinion was applying way too much aftershave, bid us farewell as we rushed out of the bathroom. I had given him the liberty of having Old Betsy to himself for the night since he had a date. I was going solo and glad of it too. Who would want to dance with just one girl all night?
We ran into mom and Ginny in the kitchen. Ginny was wearing a long, white dress that tied around the neck and exposed her back on which mom was currently painting angel wings on. Both Ron and I stopped and looked at her.
"Oh Ginny, you look great. I would dance with you if I knew how," I complemented. Ginny smiled and Ron rolled his eyes impatiently.
"Let's go!" he said, grabbing a hold of my red tie and dragging me out to the garage where dad was waiting in the family van. Dad started the engine and we went to pick up Hermione. She was wearing an outfit of what appeared to be fishnets, ripped pieces of cloth for the dress part, and a corset. Ron looked like a goldfish staring at her and dad started up a rousing rendition of Lady Marmalade.
We were half way to the dance when Hermione's cell phone rang.
"Yeah he's here," she said, sounding very bemused. Then she handed the phone to me.
"Hello?" I asked.
"George? Is that you George?" asked a raspy voice. At first I thought that it was someone playing a joke but it was actually just Lee calling to tell me that he wasn't going to go to the dance due to a case of strep throat. I returned Hermione's phone glumly. Fred, Ron, and Ginny all had dates, Lee was sick, and Billy landed in rehab yet again. Who was I going to hang around with when I wasn't spiking punch or dancing with girls?
My fascination with Weasel IV had dispersed (for now), I wasn't about to go crawling back to Pansy, and no other girl caught my eye, therefore I went to the dance alone. It was only a few minutes until I found one of the Weasel Twins (he later clarified that he was George) and we took dateless girls for a spin around the dance floor for a good half an hour before we grew weary of their boring babble. After having no success at prying his twin away from the lovely Angelina he decided to let me accompany him on the spiking of the punch. And I have to say that I felt very honored indeed. Forty five minutes later the ex-convict (who let him chaperon?) came up to us, scowling.
"You spiked the punch didn't you?" he asked sternly.
"Yeah," replied George with a smirk.
The ex-convict gasped.
"And you didn't invite me to help?"
After a short discussion with the convict, George got pulled to the dance floor by Katie and left me alone. I soon found the Dream Team and was going to torment them when I saw the new girl next to them. She was wearing the same medieval hooker costume that Granger was wearing only in a different color and she stopped me in my tracks when she looked up and smiled at me. No one ever smiles at me! A slow song came on and the Dream Team went onto the dance floor, leaving Noelle alone.
"Just ask her to dance already," the ex-convict muttered, pushing me towards her. I nearly tripped but caught myself just in time.
"Er...hi." I said, feeling stupid for the first time in my life.
"Hi," she said, shyly.
I motioned to the dance floor and she took my hand and followed me out. My stomach felt weird. Maybe it was what mom had once called 'butterflies in the stomach' but I, to this day, believe that it was the school's goulash that I ate at lunch that day.
Hermione's definitely not one for public displays of affection so we were not dancing as close to each other as most people were. Of course that was fine with me. I'd probably step on her toes if we danced any closer. She did, however, have her head resting on my shoulder with her eyes closed. She looked so peaceful that I decided not to talk and disturb her from her contentment. My eyes began to wander.
I saw a rather glum Sirius dancing with Mrs. McGonagall (her husband couldn't make it so it seemed as if she forced Sirius out on the dance floor against his will). Next to them were George and Katie, they were laughing over something (probably Sirius's misfortune). A little ways away I saw Fred lead Angelina out of the dance (didn't wanna know what they're doing). Then my eyes fell upon Draco and Noelle. Draco looked genuinely happy and slightly nervous as he slowly pulled Noelle closer to him.
"Looks like we don't have to worry about Draco going after Ginny anymore," I stated, forgetting my earlier resolution to not disturb Hermione.
She lifted her head lazily and looked at the dancing couple.
"Guess not," she said, returning her head to my shoulder.
"I'll tell Harry to let Ginny down easy, it's better that he gets himself out of the relationship before she really falls for him."
Hermione was silent for a minute then she lifted her head.
"Ron, I don't think Harry's dating Ginny just because you asked him to."
"What?" I asked in disbelief.
Hermione slowly turned her head to the opposite side of the room where Harry and Ginny were dancing way too close for comfort. I gazed at them with slitted eyes and Hermione stepped closer to me, tightening her grip to prevent me from doing anything stupid.
I stayed swaying to the slow song like all the other couples but my eyes remained upon Harry, thinking that he could raise his hands to a more appropriate place upon Ginny's waist. Moments later, George waltzed over with Katie and tried talking to me to no avail. So he followed my gaze and abruptly let go of Katie, making a move to walk over and pound Harry. However, Katie (being the smart girl she is) wrapped her arms around his chest and turned him back around. Her hands found his cheeks and she gently forced him to look at her instead of his younger sister and the friend who was to close to her for comfort.
"They're just dancing, let them be," she told him.
George nodded reluctantly (I think Katie taking a step closer to him had something to do with it) but both he and I continued to glance at Harry from time to time. Neither of us spoke much for the rest of the night.
The rest of the night passed quickly. I danced the whole time with Noelle (the weird feeling in my stomach lessened but hadn't gone away completely) and we left slightly early to walk home. She made me laugh a lot. That's all I can really say about our time together. We didn't make out, or fight, we just talked and laughed, and it was weird.
We were half way to her house when my cell phone rang. It was my mom. She told me that I shouldn't come home that night. Normal kids might have been offended by it but it's been happening with me for years. Some nights dad has to work on 'business' with some of is 'coworkers' and they kick me out so I 'don't get in their way'. The phone call dampened my mood considerably because it meant that I would be staying over at my Aunt Belatrix's. I hated staying over there!
Noelle sensed my mood change and gave me a reassuring hug before disappearing into her house. It made me feel slightly better but a sour taste came to my mouth as Aunt Belatrix's manor came into view. I snuck in quietly, hoping to get into my bedroom without her noticing, but she was waiting on the steps for me. The whole house was dark and a tree branch was rattling against the sitting room window.
"Hello Draco," she said, smiling viciously.
I grunted.
"How was your dance?"
I shrugged and there was a heavy silence for a minute.
"Well, aren't your going to tell me about it?" she asked impatiently.
"I spiked the punch," I said nonchalantly.
She smiled.
"Did anyone catch you?"
"Sirius Black."
Her smile quickly turned to a look of what seemed like a mix between hatred and disgust.
"The bastard," she said under her breath.
I shrugged again.
"He didn't turn me in or anything. He was just disappointed I hadn't told him beforehand so he could help."
My aunt glared at me.
"So he's trying to become your little friend now, is he?"
I looked at her with slitted eyes, very confused. Why did she care?
"He should have been put on death row," she continued.
"But...he was innocent," I stated. It was the truth, everyone knew it, but she continued to glare at me.
"You'll stay away from him if you know what's good for you," she told me. "And that Potter boy he's raising too, they're both no good."
I didn't answer. Though I would never admit it, I liked Potter's group more than my own. After several minutes of silence, my aunt smiled at me yet again.
"Come on," she said, getting up and tugging at my shirt. "I baked cookies."
Another Author's Note: Belatrix baking cookies? Weird. I'm giving blood again next week! Yay! I had fun last time, and my friends think I'm nuts. Anywho, I really hope you guys liked this chapter.